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functionaries . All the notabilities of the country will subscribe . " There is not a town in France which will not make it a point cPhonneur to appear in the list , and we need not add that the city of Bordeaux will figure among the first . "
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THE ORIENT . CHINA . Veky little has taken place in the Canton river during the period between the last and the preceding advices . The boats belonging to our steamer Esk have seized a pirate junk in one of the creeks , but not without loss of life . The Cantonese and the Portuguese at Ningpo have again come into collision . The Chinamen were assisted by some foreigners , and the Portuguese Consulate was sacked . The French steamer Marceau has seized at Shanghai the Portuguese schooner Aurora , -which had been engaged in numerous acts of piracy . Her Majesty ' s ship Raleigh was put up to public auction on the 29 th of June , and bought in for five thousand five hundred dollars . Letters received at New York from China have
and misdemeanours , especially in connexion with religion . INDIA . The- death , of the Maharajah Ghoolab Singh is now contradicted . .
given rise to a rumour that the United Stales have decided to take possession of the island of Formosa , as security for the payment by the Chinese Government of the indemnity demanded for damage done to American interests during the disturbances at Canton . In his answer to the address presented to him by the English residents at Hong-Kong , Lord Elgin said : — " Without departing from the reserve which a sense of duty prescribes to me , I may venture to state that I concur with you in the opinion that no settlement of our present difficulties will be satisfactory which shall fail to teach the Cantonese a -wholesome respect for the obligations of their own Government in its relations with independent Powers , and for the laws of hospitality towards
strangers who resort to their shores for peaceful purposes of trade . The powerful fleet already assembled on these coasts , which will soon be supported by an . adequate military force , is a pledge of her Majesty ' s determination to afford protection to her faithful subjects in this quarter , and to maintain the rights to which they are by treaty entitled . It is essential to the permanence of pacific relations with China , and to the security of trade , tJu » t the Court of Pekin should be apprised that an arrogant refusal to treat with other Powers on the terms prescribed by the comity of nations , or the alleged wilfulness of a provincial authority , will not henceforth be held to release it from the responsibility of faithfully adhering to engagements contracted with independent and sovereign States . "
- The French Government has received a despatch by the China mail , announcing that a , conference had taken place at Hong-Kong on the 7 tb of July between Admiral Guerin , commanding the French squadron , Admiral Seymour , Lord Elgin , and General Ashburnham . A singular account of a singular pirate lately practising in the Chinese waters is given by the Times Hong-Kong correspondent , who writes : — " An American , named Eli Boggs , has been tried at Hong-Kong for piracy and murder . His name would do for a villain of the Blackbeard class , but in form and feature he was the hero of a sentimental novel . As he stood in the dock , bravely battling for his life , it seemed impossible that that handsome boy could be the pirate wliose name
had been for three years connected with the boldest and bloodiest acts of piracy . It was a face of feminine beauty . Not a down upon the upper lip , large lustrous eyes , a mouth the smile of which might woo coy maiden , affluent black hair not carelessly parted , hands so small and so delicately white that they would create a sensation in Belgravia—such was the Hong-Kong pirate , Eli Boggs . He spoke for two hours in his defence , and he spoke well—without a tremor , without an appeal for mercy , but trying to prove that his prosecution was the result of a conspiracy wherein a Chinese bum-boat proprietor and a sub-official of the colony ( both of whom he ch
arged as being in league with all the pirates on the coast ) were the chief conspirators . The defence was , of course , false . It had been proved that he had boarded a junk and destroyed by cannon , pistol , and sword , fifteen men ; and that having forced all the rest overboard ho had fired at one of the victims , who had clutched a rope and held on astern . No witness , however , could prove that he saw a man die from a blow or a shot struck or iired by the pirate . The jury , moved by his youth and courage , and straining hard their consciences , acquitted liim of the murder , but found him guilty of piracy . Ho -was sentenced to be transported for hfo . *
EGYl'T . Several Europeans have been arrested at Alexandria in consequence of the assassination of the vice-consul of Naples . TUNIS . The ringleaders in the recent disturbances at Tunis navo been arrested and sent to the galleys ; but these measures are considered insufficient by tho European powers , who have demanded more completo guarantees lor the future . Tho Boy is stated to bo anxious for relorma . Ho hoa ordered tho inatitution of a Tribunul of commerce and of a Criminal Court for tho trial of crimes
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STATE OF TRADE . The reports of the trade of the manufacturing towns for the week ending last Saturday describe a rather active business at Manchester , although it has been moderate as compared with the excitement in the Liverpool cotton market . At Birmingham , the demand for iron is well sustained , and large contracts are in hand . A further advance has occurred in copper . For the general manufactures of the place , large orders have arrived fro in Australia , and employment is also increased by the requirements of the East India Company for arms and accoutrements . At Nottingham there has been an improved inquiry for lace , but the hosiery branches are still very dull . In the woollen districts , business is limited , but steady ; and the Irish linenmarkets are without alteration . At Gloucester , the failure has been announced of Mr . W . Cassie , a railway contractor , for 80 . 000 J . —Times .
The general business of the port of London during the same week has been moderately active , although the arrivals have been much less numerous . The total of ships reported inward was 210 , being 170 less than in the previous week . These included 49 with cargoes of grain , flour , &c , the arrivals of sugar being also very large . The number of ships cleared outward was 145 , including 19 in ballast , stowing a decrease of 4 . One vessel only cleared direct for Shanghai . —Idem .
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chairman , he was compelled to do . Mr . Leech ( the solicitor of the company ) read the portion of the act referring to the affixing of the seal of the registry . A scene of great confusion ensued , in which several shareholders endeavoured to express opinions on the subject , when the chairman said : " What is the use of wasting time in this discussion ? I have put the seal of the company to the registry and you cannot retract it . I have acted under advice and must stand by it . I cannot setract it , nor can you . " QGreat uproar . ) A Shareholder : " It has been done without our consent , and we protest against it . " The Chairman : " Well , then , protest as much as you please . " Another Shareholder "Do you know whether the registry is correct ? " The Chairman : "No , I do not . " A Voice : " And you don ' t care- ' *
In answer to several questions , Mr . Denison said he would , make no further replies with respect to the registry of shareholders . A Mr . Sainsbury then said : — " If we are about to be dismissed with a mere motion of adjournment , then it has not been a waste of time to have gone into this discussion . It is not a waste of time in this sense , since it ought to serve to show you , Sir , that you have utterly lost the confidence of the shareholders . ( JLoud cheers . ' ) There was a time , Sir , vfhen you might have affixed your seal to the
registry , and the support of the shareholders would have gone with you , and you would never have been questioned as to what you were doing , because they would have had confidence in you . That confidence in you is now utterly gone— -deservedly , justly , irrecoverably gone . ( Loud cheers . ') And , if any expression of opinion on any question which should be put to this meeting should serve to relieve this company of such a head as that of which they are now ashamed , no consumption of time can be considered as lost . "
THE GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY . The half-yearly meeting of this company took place last Saturday , and led to some very stormy discussion with respect to the Kedpath frauds . Mr . Edmund Denison , M . P ., chairman of the board of directors , presided . The following supplementary report , dated 27 th of August , presented by the directoxs , indicates the nature of the question in dispute : — " Since the directors ' report was issued on Friday last , the 21 st of August , the Vice-Chancellor , Sir Page AVood , lias given a decision in the suit therein referred to as pending , to the effect that dividends cannot be declared at the next meeting , except on the footing of paying the preference shareholders a full dividend for a whole year
from the 80 th of June , 1856 . This decision would throw the whole loss on the ordinary , including the A and B stockholders , annihilating their dividend for the halfyear ended the 30 th of June , 1857 , and depriving the A stockholders of all prospect of dividend till March , 1858 ; contrary to the intention of the meeting of this company , held on the 8 th of July last , when the bill then before Parliament was approved by a great majority , in the full belief that , it passed , all classes of stockholders would become contributors to the loss ; and it is also contrary to the intention of the committees of both Houses of Parliament . The Attorney-General has
subsequently stated that he 13 clear in his conviction , and is so fully assured of the erroneous view of the Vice-Chancellor , that he has advised , the directors not to declare a dividend , as they cannot obey the injunction of the Vice-Chaucellor -without violating the act of Parliament ; and he further advises that the meeting ought to be adjourned , so as to allow of the Vice-Chancellor ' s opinion being submitted to the decision of the full Court of Appeal . Under these circumstances , the only course which the directors can safely take is to abstain from presenting any scheme for a dividend to the meeting next Saturday , and to ask the meeting to adjourn . — Edmund Denison . "
To this , a rejoinder was issued on the part of the preference shareholders , who contended that they could not bo fairly charged with any part of the loss arising out of the frauds , as their shares were created for tho convenience of the company at a time of financial difficulty , and under the guarantee of a fixed rate of dividond , with a proviso that tho shares should be redeemable at the option of the company , so that tho shareholders could never take advantage of any considerable rise in their value . As late as last March , it was added , the
directors had promised not to support any bill in Parliament which should involve the preference shareholders in the loss ; yet they had endeavoured to introduce into the recent measure on tho subject a clause effecting that very result . Tho House of Commons , however , after a contest with tho House of Lords , had thrown out the clause . The preference shareholders concluded by protesting against prolonged litigation , after tho decision of Vicc-Chancollor Wood , who in acknowledged to l > o one of the best judges on the bench .
On tho directors entering the room , they wcro received with loud grouns and hisses , and during the ensuing- proceedings tli « utmost disorder prevailed . The advertisement convening tho meeting having been read , tho chairman allixed tho soul to tho registry of shareholders , on which a shareholder said ho wished to know whether it was competent for tho chairman to aflix the seal without tho consent of the sliarcholdcro . The chairman said it wns simply a ministerial act , and one which , as
Mr . Denison thea proceeded to address the meeting on the general prospects of the company , and said no one could deny the progressive prosperity of the railway . To this , some one iu the body of the meeting replied , " We can . " " Then do so if you like , " retorted the chairman . He then observed that , but for the frauds , the company would be in a position to declare a better dividend than had ever been declared before at that period of the year . One of the shareholders asked for some information respecting the bill that has passed
through Parliament . Mr . Denison said he could not give it . " You won ' t , " rejoined the querist . " Wcll r then , " said the chairman , "I won ' t , either for your impertinence , or any body else ' s . " Tremendous uproar here for a time interrupted the proceedings , but was at . length subdued . Having given a rapid history of the dispute bet-ween the preference shareholders and the directors , Mr . Denison concluded by moving that the meeting be adjourned till after the appeal from the decision of Vice-Chancellor Wood .
Long and angry discussion ensued , in the course of which ; a ' diversion , ' in two senses of the word , was created by an old . gentlemau demanding that some windows which had been opened , should be closed . " You are requested , " said Mr . Billing , one of the shareholders , addressing the chairman , " to regulate the ventilation of the room . " ( Laughter . )— " I have nothing to do with the ventilation , " replied the irritated Mr . Denison . " You are ari architect ; you had better ventilate it yourself . " Tho meeting was then addressed by Mr . Valentine Knight , who defended the cause of tho preference shareholders , and sarcastically spoke of ' the young May moon * and ' the last rose of summer ' on the right and
left of the chairman . This produced shouts of laughter , and also called up Mr . Denison , Q . C ., son of the chairman , who said that Mr . Knight had been " squirting ouft venomous observations . " Great tumult ensued , mingled with cries of " Sit down ! " " Withdraw ! " " Turn him out ! " Mr . Deniaon , junior , in vain endeavoured to address the meeting ; and at last one of tho shareholders said : " Mr . Chairman , have you no control over your son ? Pray put him down . " Mr . Denison replied , " It would take a better man than you to put him down . Ho would not he worthy to bo my son if ho did not resent personal insult . " Finally , Mr . Knight retracted the offensive expression , but refused to make any apology .
The chairman then again expatiated on the excellence of the line of which , he is tho president—an assertion that found many dissentients ; " But , " ho added , " if you are blockheads enough to go on in this insane manner , you will ruin your property , and becomo the laugliing-stoek of the whole kingdom . " A Voice : " Wo can t bo worse than wo are . " Mr . Dcniuon then moved that tho meeting adjourn . In reply to tho query , " What would you have done if tho decision of the Vice-Chancellor had boon in your favour ? " the
chairman hotly replied , " I will not be such a damned fool as to answer that question . " IHsbcs and cries of " Shame !" followed . " Give him rope enough , and he'll hang himself , " observed one of tho uliarehohlera . Another expressed his horror that Mr . Dcmison , a magiatrato and a religious man , ' » liould have made uso of an oath . Mr . DoniHon denied tliat ho bad done so . After a groat deal of crimination and recrimination , tho chairman put tho motion that tho meeting adjourn . A show of hands negatived this ; but the decision was rovorsed by a poll , in which tho directors used their proxies . Against thia
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No . 389 , September 5 , ' 1857 . ] THE LEADEE . 845
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 5, 1857, page 845, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2208/page/5/
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